Too Cool

Sometimes Addy looks like she is just too cool for me...or for anyone. 

I don't want to forget....

what Addy's smile looked like before she had teeth...

how Addy plays with her feet while drinking a bottle...

how excited Addy gets when she sees her dogs & how she tries to play with them...

what a happy girl Addy is in the morning...

All I want for Christmas is...

my two front teeth.

Addy's two front, top teeth are in without much work.  She was such a trooper!

Christmas...

Christmas day came and went in the blink of an eye.  It doesn't mean it wasn't fabulous, because it was.  It had all of my favorite things all rolled into one big day and I was one happy, tired momma at the end.  Just sitting here thinking about it, I am smiling.
Christmas Eve we all wore our new pajamas.  Addy's were decorated with a lovebug.

And my little family awoke to do our own little gift exchange. Then we headed to my mom's to have some brunch and do family presents.  One present, Addy's stocking that my mom cross stitched and Aunt Sandy sewed together. 

 

Addy did really well, considering she doesn't quite grasp the concept of presents.  She loved the paper, but she's had lots of practice with ripping up paper.  And Addy loved her presents...so much she wanted to play with everything immediately.  She became a little crazed after awhile.

We were also able to Skype with Tim's family and open presents with them.   Amazing what technology will allow us to do.  Thanks Mandy for letting us use your computer!
We were all able to relax while Addy took a nap.  Mandy put her new bike together, Alison visited with her boyfriend's family, and Tim, Mom, & I just chatted and played with our new toys.
After Addy woke up we headed over to my cousin, Cyndy's house, for our big family celebration.  We are so lucky to share our lives with such fun, loving people.

Aunt Sandy & Sarah

Uncle Dan reading to the kids

 All of the adults exchanging presents

 Mandy & Kayla

My cousin, Ross, & I

Aunt Nancy & Mom

Chase & Kay

Addy lovin' on a bow

But eventually our lovebug was too tired to go on and we headed home. 

Our Christmas ended with all of our tired, but extremely happy family, heading to bed.  It was a great day and I was lucky to be able to just stop a couple of times and capture the moments in my mind.  So very thankful for our memories in the making.

First Present

In my family we have a tradition of opening pajamas from my mom on Christmas Eve.  However, since Tim & I have started a family and will be staying at our house tonight, we had to improvise and just open the pjs when most of us were together.  That just happened to be yesterday.
So, I originally just shot this video to show Tim how Addy did opening her first Christmas present but last night when I saw how much he enjoyed it, I thought I would share with everyone.  Please excuse the less than stellar videotaping skills but I kept forgetting I was recording. :-)  And Merry Christmas Eve!  We hope you have a great holiday with those you love!

Uggs

Southern California has been under a watery siege for almost a week.  I love this cold, wet weather but it also means I need to dress Addy up warmer than usual. So, we had to break out the beanie and the Uggs...yup I said Uggs.

My baby has a real pair of (a little too big) Uggs (courtesy of an amazing coworker) while her momma does not. That is okay, she looks so cute I will have to forgive her. ;-)

Quick Trip

We just got back from a quick, yet relaxing, trip to Palm Springs.  

All three of us needed to escape all of the bustle of the real world and just lounge around  in our pjs...

read...

and wander the wet streets of Palm Springs in search of some tasty treats.

It was a great little trip, even when the weather was wet.  Shoot, we still had a view of this..

And now we are home to snuggle in for Christmas.

Christmas Cookies

This year Alison invited us to come partake in some cookie decorating at her work.  The restaurant bakes cookies and invites kids to listen to a Christmas story, drink hot cocoa (with marshmallows and chocolate shavings), and decorate cookies with lots of candy & icing.  How could we resist?

Poor Addy has a mean mommy who took this cookie away from her.  No sugar yet.

Brody was an expert.  Look at him handling that bag of icing.

Trying to get a picture of the "big" cousins.  Got a cute picture of Taylor.

 Even Mommy & G-ma decorated some cookies.

 Madison did a great job with her cookies and wanted to show Addy.  Addy, however, had different plans...thinking she could snatch one without Maddie noticing...

Didn't work, but I do think she got some sugar on her hands.  Hence the funny face.

Overall, I think everyone had a great time.  And Addy especially loves spending time with her cousins.  Thanks Alison for inviting us!!

Crawling? Backwards?

Yup, baby girl has been getting up on all fours and moving...backwards.  I tried to take a video today but she wasn't in the mood for showing off but you can get the idea of what she is doing.  Also caught on video, Addy learning how to close the door in my face.  Probably won't be the last time she does that! :-)



And I am officially on Winter Break!  So maybe I will be able to blog more?  Hopefully!

Weather

Hard to predict the weather around here.  One day you are wearing this....

And a couple of days later it looks like this...



Ho...Ho...No..

 Being the Key Club Advisor, daughter of the Kiwanis Treasurer, and cousin to the Kiwanis President of Fallbrook has it perks.  One of them, I get to crash the Christmas party they throw for a local preschool.  Think: Christmas music, cookies, lots of excited kids, craft room, AND the chance to sit on Santa's lap!

Addy was excited to see her cousins, grandma, and Auntie Alison.  In fact, she even liked watching Santa...

 

But when it came to sitting on Santa's lap...Addy lost it.  Sadly, Addy did not like Santa and she started bawling right away.

It did not help to have me there with her, but I did get to have my first photo with Santa in about 18 years. :-)

Even after sitting on his lap, Addy could not help but look at Santa and cry.  Even when her Mommy & g-ma were trying to take a cute picture.

Oh well.  There is always next year. 

Santa, please don't hold this against Addy.  She was a very good girl all year and she would like some new toys.  Thanks!

Christmas Spirit

I am being sappy again...you know when I start reflecting on life....anyways, this time it has to do with Christmas.  I love Christmas, always have.  I love the weather, the music, the decorations, the trees and lights, finding the perfect present for people, the food, even the crowded malls filled with people...I love it all.
This year, my fill of the Christmas spirit started with Thanksgiving.  Since then I have worked on Christmas cards, decorating the house, hanging lights and all of it has been fun. See, this year I have someone new to share in the Christmas spirit with.  While she probably won't remember, Addy has brought such a wonder to my Christmas spirit this year.  I catch her gazing at the Christmas tree every once in awhile, and I cannot help but look at it will a fascination too. Addy sings along with Christmas carols on the radio and I can't help but singing a little louder too.  At her first ornament exchange, Addy loved opening the ornament and then loved holding the glittery Santa and I couldn't help but loving it too.  I guess this is what everyone always told me about being a mom, that you would see the world in a whole new light.  So, thank you to my new light, Addy, who has brought me such happiness.

Christmas Card Photo Shoot

For Christmas my mom wanted to take some nice pictures of my sisters, Tim, Addy, and myself.  The only time we could all get together was the morning of Thanksgiving, when it was 40 degrees outside.  So, we all grinned (literally) and beared the weather and put our best effort forward to get some good pictures.

I think we got some good pictures.  What do you think?

Turkey Day

I love the holidays and to me, Thanksgiving starts it all.  What a great day to set off the holidays!  Our Thanksgiving was full of

family

 

food

 

Football

and good times in general.

While we missed those of you who were not able to be with us, we had a great day and hope you did too!